By Alex Florez
Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:11-21, Deuteronomy 10:12-17, Acts 10:9-48, 1 Corinthians 7:17-19
Have you ever sat motionless in a dark, soundless space and paid attention to your own heartbeat? Of course, it’s hard for us to find full darkness in our neon- and LED-saturated world. And complete silence? Forget it. Nonetheless, maybe you’ve stolen a moment like the one I’m describing, where your environment is empty enough for you to really feel your heart.
To me, it’s chilling. It suggests that there’s a whole universe of activity thrumming away inside of me that seems to have a life of its own. It’s mysterious and wonderful, this relentless rhythm that marches on without my conscious effort.
No wonder humans throughout history and across cultures have identified the heart with the epicenter of human emotion, thought, desire, passion, and identity. We know now (and many ancient cultures developed pretty advanced understanding) that the heart, anatomically speaking, is just a blood-pumping, oxygen-delivering machine. It has a function to perform, which, if successful, keeps an organism alive. If it fails, the creature dies. It has little to no bearing on actual emotions or passion, but the metaphor is beautifully poignant and rich with meaning: Life or death depends on the condition of the heart.
Today’s readings highlight the danger of adopting a superficial, skin-deep allegiance in the place of an internal, heart-bound devotion. If we allow God access to every part of our physical beings but bar Him from our hearts, our sin-sick existences have no hope for resuscitation.
In old covenant law, the sign of circumcision was an outward reflection of the even more essential inward reality: what is required of us is the circumcision of our hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16).
As sacred and consequential as physical circumcision was to the Jewish world, Paul recognized that the churches in Galatia were in danger of emphasizing the wrong thing and excluding the only right thing. If one’s salvation is either sealed or surrendered based on proper adherence to the law, then God’s gift of unfailing love would not require the sacrifice of Jesus. In Paul’s words, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21).
If we’re following God’s law for the sake of the law itself and standing on our own laurels as excellent, praiseworthy law-abiders, we miss the indispensable purpose of Christ crucified. If our path to God is paved with our own earned righteousness, then Jesus is not entirely necessary for us to stand at peace with God. His death on the cross would be solely symbolic. I don’t need a savior; I would just save myself.
I don’t know about you, but merit-based salvation presents a losing proposition to a guy like me. I need to be rescued—from myself, from the sin within me, and from the world around me—and only the blood of Jesus can secure the salvation I need. This I know in the deepest reaches of my beating heart.
Written by Alex Florez
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